Touch wood i've been lucky enough not to have any infections or problems over the years with my Oscars but it looks like even my luck has run out this time. I've noticed over the past couple of days my Oscar (Bilbo) has just not been himself lately. He's taken to sitting at the bottom and not moving at all for love of food or anything as he usually would. His Dorsal fin lays low and he shows no interest in anything at the moment. I've done all the water tests and my PH levels and Nitrate levels etc are all fine. I've noticed his tank mate i've introduced has been going rather scatty by darting around the tank at a 100 MPH and occasionally rubbing himself against the gravel substrate etc. I did isolate him in a temporary tank for a few days to keep any eye on him first to make sure he showed no sign of disease. Maybe i missed something?. Bilbo usually goes about with his dorsal fin in full spread showing himself off etc but no longer?. I've added a small quantity of 'pick me up tonic' to try and see if it elevates the problem but still no good. Please help me sort this outy as i'm worried.

Thanks in advance Brucemarc

The first thing I will ask for is the exact water readings. I know you've said they're okay, we just need to be absolutely sure.

Now regarding the fish that are swimming around very quickly. The first thing you need to do is check they are not suffering from a skin parasites such as ick. This is probably one of the most easy infections to diagnose. Basically the fish will look like it's been sprinkled with salt. In very mild cases, there may be only a few small white cysts on the skin and fins. Fish may also swim around erratically if there are toxins present in the water (going to what I originally said)

Now regarding your Oscar. If the fish breathing heavily? Fishing may also become very lethargic and close their fins if they are infected with either a bacterial, or a parasitic skin infection. If this is the case, it should be noticeable. Obviously I am only summarising what could be wrong, it's very difficult diagnosing anything over the Internet. If you could take a photograph, that could help in a small way I suppose.

So please give us the exact water results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrates and PH.

Also, please tell us how big your tank is, and what sort of the location you are using?

Hi and thanks for the quick reply and again this enforces why i joined this community. Well i can say that after keeping an eye on the Oscar and other fish i have noticed these signs. Firstly the Silver Dollar had small red patches across the left hand side of his body. The Oscar went from laying motionless to turning himself upside down and occasionally rubbing himself against the substrate. Ok that was the bad news. The good news is after quarantining the Silver Dollar and treating him separately and treating the Oscar separately they've shown signs of picking up again. Basically both fish have stopped rubbing themselves against things and there Dorsal fins are sprung back in to place which are no longer folded against there backs. They both seem so much better in themselves i'm glad to say. My tank setup by the way is a 295 Gallon tank and i have 2 Oscars and 1 Silver Dollar. The treatment i used was 'King British' WS3 and i used it 3 days ago then did a 10% water change on the main tank. The Silver Dollar has been in the temporary tank ever since. What are the signs i should continue to look for and when is it sensible for me to put them back together etc. Do i need to do a larger water change etc. I know the treatment i used said use again after 48hrs which i've done for both tanks. Your help is appreciated. Oh the tank measurements you asked for are as follows...

PH Levels: 7.0

Nitrate: 5.0

Ammonia: 0.04

Nitrite: 0.3

Hope this is enough info for you guys

Thanks in advance Brucemarc

The fact you have ammonia and nitrites present show your water readings are not as good as you thought,this is why OFL quite rightly asked for the actual readings. there shouldn't be any of these 2 present. have you cleaned your filter recently? or added new water where the chlorine hasn't been fully removed? if all fish are showing signs of improvement it could have been the water parameters that affected them,but to be sure I would wait a few more days before replacing all the fish together again. Can you tell us what filter you are running .

you will need to monitor your water closely and keep a very close eye on ammonia & nitrites. at the moment you could add "prime" I would do this after doing a water change of 30% to lower ammonia and nitrites.

Thanks once again for the reply. Well all i did was do a 10% water change yesterday and that's when i took the readings. In hindsight a silly time to take the readings sorry. I'll do as you've suggested and keep an eye on all of them and i'll follow your water change advice also. I'm just happy they seem to have perked up again. Thanks for the help and any major changes i'll post here.

Oh the filter i use is called the 'Tetratec EX 2400'

Brucemarc

not moving is a sign of trying to conserve energy while darting
is trying to shake off something that bothering them. both are
sign of problem. better do immediately water change while waiting
for more inputs. better safe than sorry.

Thanks Paul and thanks to all of you. I've done a water change this morning and cleaned the tank thoroughly. I've replaced the water and it's been treated for chlorine etc. I let it settle for a few hours and i've just added the Oscars back in. I'm yet to move the Silver Dollar from the Hospital tank (Still keeping an eye on him). He hasn't picked up as well as the Oscars. The Oscars seem much happier today and are feeding well as always!. There already moving the tank arrangement around to suit them:laugh:

I've posted i've been donated another fish if anyone can help with that please?

Thanks all:)

Ok to update with my situation regarding the health of my fish. All is well with my Oscars and they've picked up well. The bad news is my Silver Dollar was found dead in the hospital tank. He never seemed to get better as the others did and i'm quite upset he didn't make it but in some ways i'm glad i didn't put him back in with the others. I did a 30% water change on the main tank and as i've said all seems well. The Oscars are more there usual selves now and there eating fine. there are no signs of being irrated by anything and they look overall much better i'm happy to say. What killed off the Silver Dollar?. the infection or the stress of it all i'm not sure?. I am grateful though for the responses and advice i was given so thanks everybody concerned.

Brucemarc

Ok another update on my fish health. As i've said the Silver Dollar died. The Oscars in the main tank are looking much better and are not showing any sign of disease any more. Thanks to the advice given to me here on the forum i took the relevant steps and all seems well BUT.....My biggest Oscar (Bilbo) has got the most appalling looking eyes i've ever seen. How can i describe them?. They look like a zombies or a blind mans. Totally white all over or cloudy looking. The whole eye (both of them) i'm sure are no longer allowing the Oscar to see. I'm absolutely devastated by this and i really hope someone again can give me some advice here?. I'll post a picture later if possible but my mobile screen has gone blank on me so i can't for the life of me see what i'm taking. Or rather i can't see if the cameras on anyway:S

first of all sorry for the loss. 2nd, you're welcome for the
kudos.

back to business. blurred eyes is a symptom of bad water condition.
mostly ammonia and nitrite burn. it is good you have done water change.
just want to check.... what did you do with the filtering system? common mistake is cleaning the filtering system in tap water. by doing so, you had killed all good bacteria in the set up. it will take time to colonized the whole filtering set-up.

keep the temp at 80 to 84 for the meantime. it will comfort your fish.
ripple the discharge point to agitate the water and oxygenate.

does your oscar take the foods. if so, he will recover in no time.

good luck

Thanks Paul much appreciated. Well i've continued to do the water tests and the measurements are as follows...

PH Levels: 7.0

Nitrate: 0

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0.3

My external filter which is a 'Tetratec EX 2400' and i did clean it but i used the tank water. The overall behaviour of my Oscars are good and they are feeding as always and there just as greedy as usual:laugh: I'll keep the temp as you suggested and just keep an eye on them.

PS: There getting plenty of oxygen by way of what you've said. It looks like a jacuzzi in there with the amount of air bubbles.

Thanks again brucemarc

okey then.... how long did it take to clean the system????? allowing the sytem
idle for long time will defeat the purpose. this is why sometimes, we remove
some media and run the system with few media left. this is to keep colonies of
good bacteria alive, then put back what we have clean to make sure all is fine.

please check.... with sestablish tank... it is difficult to attain 0 nitrate.
pH 7 is neutral, ammoniua 0 is good.

the good thing is, your o is taking the foods, 98% chance for survival.
good luck again